Verizon Partners with New York State to Deploy High-Speed Broadband to 15,500 Rural Households

Verizon is pleased to announce that it has been awarded $70.7 million in Phase 3 of the New NY Broadband Program. An additional $12 million from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Connect America Fund (CAF) plus Verizon’s own investment brings the total funds to $106.6 million.

The funds will support Verizon’s deployment of high-speed broadband to more than 15,500 rural locations in upstate New York.

“Verizon is focused on delivering broadband service, and the major economic benefits associated with it, to the difficult-to-reach service areas of upstate New York,” said Kevin Service, senior vice president of wireline operations for Verizon. “We are pleased to partner with New York State and the FCC to achieve our common goal of increasing broadband access for unserved and underserved areas in the State.”

“We applaud Governor Cuomo for his leadership in establishing the most robust broadband program in any state in our nation,” said Leecia Eve, vice president of state government affairs for the Tri-State region for Verizon. “At Verizon, we don’t wait for the future, we build it. This historic partnership will expand high-speed broadband access to thousands of New Yorkers and will better connect our communities. This work will be done by our highly skilled and compensated workforce and will enable all of New York State to better compete in the global economy.”

Verizon will leverage its relationship with New York-based Corning Inc. to provide fiber optic cable and associated hardware to expand its broadband network in targeted unserved and underserved communities.

In April, Verizon announced a three-year minimum purchase agreement with Corning where Verizon will purchase up to 20 million kilometers (12.4 million miles) of optical fiber each year from 2018 through 2020, with a minimum purchase commitment of $1.05 billion.

Each year, Verizon invests nearly $2 billion in its wireline and wireless networks and employs more than 18,000 people in New York State. Through this public-private partnership, the company will invest millions more to fully leverage the resources provided under the New York Broadband Fund.